Glassbreak detectors are commonly used to provide environmental feedback as to the condition of windows in security systems that are intended to monitor a predetermined region. Despite their usefulness, they, at times, have problems with false alarms that occur from displaced locations that are in a different direction than the window being protected. This is because they commonly use a microphone that is omni-directional by design, resulting in the detector being sensitive to sounds occurring from any direction. Although uni-directional microphones are available, they are designed in a manner that makes it difficult to distinguish the direction from which an unidentified sound is originating.
In a known prior art implementation of a glassbreak detector, a time of arrival method is implemented using two omni-directional microphones. The microphones are arranged opposed to one another on the order of 180 degrees. This configuration forms a protected zone and an excluded zone. Signals from the two microphones can be processed to detect sounds of glass breaking from the protected zone.